Fresh, simple pop-up espresso bar and art exhibition

by inspiredmood on March 2, 2013

A visit to a pop-up art exhibition and espresso bar this morning really brightened my day. After hearing whispers earlier in the week of the entrepreneurial spirit of two friends who listened to their hearts and saw an opportunity to step closer to their dreams, I had to pop round for a sticky beak (and to taste the coffee)!

Dubbo artist Matilda Julian and local coffee roaster Alister teamed up to create a pop-up gallery and espresso bar

The beauty of this fresh-look pop-up art exhibition and espresso bar is in its simplicity. Clean white walls let the artwork pop, native flowers reflect the subject of the oil paintings on exhibition, and a compact espresso bar is a no-fuss focal point that expels alluring aromas to passersby. Located at 89a Tamworth Street in south Dubbo and open 8am to 2pm every day except Sunday from 23 February to 6 March 2013. Don’t worry if you can’t make it, you can still connect the artist here and with the coffee supplier here. Bu if you are in the area, it is well worth the visit.

The espresso bar is serviced by the Suburban Coffee Company. The beans are sourced from South America (mainly Brazil where the bean ‘tends to be smoother and sweeter’, so I’m told) and roasted locally by Suburban Coffee Company creator, Alister. Suburban Coffee Company has been supplying locally-roasted beans to select cafes and restaurants around Dubbo for the past 12 months. Alister saw the pop-up espresso bar as an opportunity to showcase his product. I hope we see a lot more of Suburban Coffee Company beans around soon. Expect devilish hot chocolate and smooth, comforting lattes for less than $4!

Also on the menu are locally-grown fruit and a small selection of freshly home-baked goods, such as banana bread, Anzac biscuits and chocolate cupcakes.

The pop-up art exhibition is Matilda Julian’s first. Titled ‘Fields and Flowers’, the exhibition includes a range of drawings and oil paintings by Matilda, who says she likes beautiful things and being able to recreate them in her own quirky way. To me there’s nothing more inspirational than speaking to someone who has thrown the expectations of society to the wind and embraced their true aspiration, and Matilda is one of those people. While she enjoyed art at school, Matilda studied law at university and spent four years practising law before she rediscovered her passion. After a brief stint in Alice Springs where she worked as a social worker, Matilda was bored. So she enrolled in a drawing class, which proved a turning point. “It was like a wave of satisfaction came over me and I realised you have to do what you’re good at and what makes you happy,” she says.

Dubbo artist Matilda Julian with an oil painting from her Fields and Flowers exhibition